


Safe Harbour

by Yolashillinia



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Romance, bad language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26979265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yolashillinia/pseuds/Yolashillinia
Summary: Wasn't expecting to fall for Reyes. Then I found out he's Space Zevran. Fluff commenced. "I'm always out there, wandering, getting in trouble, dancing on the wind… but I always know where you are. Or at least how to find you. I need you to return to." Written 2018.
Relationships: Female Ryder | Sara/Reyes Vidal
Kudos: 14





	Safe Harbour

“You look like you’re waiting for someone,” a pleasantly-accented baritone teased her from her left, and she turned to see a guy with a really awful haircut… and a really sexy smirk. He signaled for a couple drinks, which Umi slammed down on the bar with particularly bad grace – she’d just been dealing with a difficult customer, after all – and offered her one.

“I’ve got time for a drink,” she teased, accepting the cup.

“Shena,” he introduced himself. Her contact. “But you can call me Reyes. Reyes Vidal. I hate code names.”

She giggled at the admission as she shook his hand. “I was expecting someone more… angaran.”

He chuckled back. “The Resistance pays me to supply information – among other things.”

She squinted. “So you’re a smuggler.”

He shrugged off the label and moved over to the window, telling her what she needed to know for the next step in tracking down the Archon. “Sloane won’t give him up easily.”

“I’m taking him, with or without her permission,” she answered, tipping back the last of her drink.

He leaned towards her with a really charming grin. There might have been a lens flare in it. “We’re going to be friends, you and I! There might be another way. You talk to Sloane. I’ll talk to the Resistance.”

He began to walk away from her briskly, but paused as she called: “How do I contact you if things go south?”

A wink was her reply, and then he was gone. Damn, he was smooth. Even if he hadn’t answered her question.

She was about to follow him when Umi cleared her throat from the bar. “Hey! You gotta pay.”

 _That total and complete asshole_.

* * *

She found him crouched in a store room, cursing at the crates. She glared as she approached, hands on her hips. “’Take the night off. Come out for a drink.’ Should have known you were up to something.”

“Harumi!” he exclaimed, jumping to his feet with an honest look of surprise. “It’s not what it looks like.” She didn’t miss the slight stammer and her eyes narrowed more.

“So you _didn’t_ use me as a distraction to go through Sloane’s stuff?”

He stared at her for a moment – come on, she wasn’t that stupid – before he sighed. “Okay, yes. But it’s for both our benefit! I promi-”

“You’ve been making a lot of promises-” she interrupted him.

“Shit!” he interrupted her back, eyes flickering towards the open door she had neglected to close when she found him. “Someone’s coming. We need a distraction.” She, too, heard footsteps approaching.

There was no thought involved. There was only the clear, the obvious, the only real course of action available – she lunged forward, flinging her arms around his neck and mashing her lips into his. One arm wrapped securely around her waist, the other hand was cupping her cheek, and she felt as well as heard an appreciative noise vibrate through his mouth and into hers. He smelled like engine grease and sulphur and sweat but his lips tasted only of desire, his breath brushing her face. Her heart was in her throat, trembling, and there were extremely energetic butterflies in her stomach; she threaded the fingers of one hand into his ridiculous hair. Yes, this was supposed to be just an act for whoever was about to come through the door, but the best way to sell an act was to make it real. And they had to look like they’d been making out for a while. And she also thought he was kind of hot and charming and even though he was kind of an unreliable ass… she’d still wanted to kiss him for a while. Their first kiss… not how she’d imagined it would go, and yet she didn’t care, it was wonderful anyway.

Damn, he was a _good_ kisser. She felt a brush of tongue against her lips and responded in kind, and almost moaned way too loudly at how the butterflies jumped. Blood was flowing south, tingling pleasantly.

“Who’s in here- Oh! Ahem. Sorry.” The guard blustered and Harumi heard her sheepishly back out, closing the door properly.

After a few more seconds of blissful snogging, Reyes released her from the kiss, if not from the embrace, and looked carefully past her towards the door. “I think we’re in the clear.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she answered, as breathless as he. She wondered how badly her arousal was showing; dilated pupils, definitely. Would he notice, though? Would it be good or bad if he noticed? “Maybe another kiss? Just to be sure.”

A faint smirk crossed that tanned face so close to hers. “Now you’re teasing me.”

She winked. “Only fair, you flirt.” Although she’d been serious. She hadn’t been kissed in a long time and after _that_ , she wanted a lot more.

He chuckled and let go of her, turning away to continue his search. “Now where might it be… ah!” He’d climbed up to a higher shelf, rooting around in an unlidded container. “Finally! Here it is!” He lifted out a large bottle and climbed carefully back down, cradling it like a baby.

“That’s what this was all about? Whiskey?” she asked skeptically, at least 50% of her indignation returning.

He grinned at her. “The only bottle of Mount Milgrom in Andromeda. Triple-distilled and 645 years old. This isn’t whiskey. It’s treasure.” He patted the bottle affectionately, and made a slight bow in her direction. “I said I’d make it up to you.”

She gave him a lopsided smirk. “You really need to rethink your priorities.”

He laughed. “We’ll see. Let’s get out of here.” Without waiting for her answer, he grabbed her hand and ran off, dragging her behind him, like they were a pair of crazy young lovers.

Maybe they were. She wondered if she hoped for such an outcome more than she feared it. She wondered if their date was properly beginning now, and all the awkwardness before just prelude.

* * *

The whiskey was incredible, as they sat on a high ledge in Kadara Port, overlooking the market, taking turns sipping it straight from the bottle. The sun was setting, and the hum of the market was surprisingly serene, for Kadara.

“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” he said softly. “I sometimes forget.” She felt him turn towards her – she was sitting facing slightly away from him. “Is Andromeda everything you hoped it would be?”

“Every day’s an adventure,” she said truthfully. “I’ve seen so much, experienced so many wonders and mysteries… Totally worth it.” She felt him kick the crate slightly, and found it endearing. “What about you? Why did you come here, Reyes?” She passed him back the bottle, feeling a nice buzz from the alcohol.

He thought about it for a while, taking a big gulp of whiskey as he did. “…To be someone.”

They sat in silence for a minute, each looking into the distance – her face painted with sun and his face stained in shadow – and she made her decision. “You’re someone to me.” She edged around until she was facing the same way as him, and he turned towards her, brown eyes glowing in the sunset.

A gloved hand reached up to stroke her face. “I’m starting to think that kiss was more than just a distraction.” The hand pulled her face towards him abruptly, and she came willingly, eagerly, her heart fluttering again. These kisses were slow, lingering, and even better than the passionate, frantic kisses earlier in the storeroom. She could taste the whiskey lingering on his lips, felt the gentle pressure of his fingers on the back of her head, reveled in the movement of his mouth on hers.

They parted, but only so that he could cork the bottle, put it down somewhere safe, and open his arms to her for more kisses. Now his tongue slipped into her mouth and she felt a jolt in her abdomen, had to concentrate not to let an embarrassingly needy whine escape her throat. She pressed herself as close as she could get, heedless of getting dirt from his jumpsuit on her casual clothes, and he held her safe. She wondered if people were looking, if they recognized them, what they thought… wondered what SAM thought of all this, with the hormones rampaging through her… but she didn’t really care. The strong arms around her, the solid body against hers, the warm mouth on hers were all that mattered right now.

Things were really going well when she had to pull back for air. His eyes were shining, and she guessed hers were too. “Perhaps we should stop,” he whispered, even more breathlessly than earlier.

“I don’t want to stop,” she whispered back.

A wistful smile crossed his face and he touched his forehead to hers. “It’s too soon to go on. For me, at least.”

She sighed. “You’re right. But I wish you weren’t.”

“You’re special, Harumi. I don’t want to rush this.” She wondered why those golden brown eyes were so sad when he said that.

Damn and praise the butterflies. “Reyes…” She kissed him again, briefly. “Thank you for a lovely evening.”

“You’re welcome.” He let go of her and she hopped off the crate, heading for the Tempest and bed… if not rest. She wouldn’t be able to sleep much tonight.

* * *

He’d already liked seeing her about Kadara Port, and spent more time there than usual in consequence – whenever the Tempest’s gleaming, state-of-the-art frame settled into Kadara’s largest berth, he’d made his way up the mountain, hoping to catch a glimpse of that naively determined figure. She was so unique, and yet completely unconscious of it – the electric blue hair with the black roots creeping in, the girlish pastel pink casual clothes, the burn on her right cheek partially covered up, partially transformed with a delicate blue tattoo. She stood out like a rose among daisies, among all these rugged lot with their drab browns and dark hair, their armour and their piercings. Though he’d seen her in armour, and knew she could hold her own. Could probably outfight most of the mercs here, with her fancy angaran sniper rifle and her slightly terrifying biotic powers.

Now she was starting to know him, and he her – she knew a little of his melancholy, his past mistakes, the moods behind his facade, and she’d started calling him on his bullshit. Which was good for him, honestly. And she was passionate and determined, an incurable optimist who believed in him even after all the pranks and troubles he’d inflicted on her. Maybe it was just his pretty face, or the cheesy charm, or the accent, that kept her going – but for whatever reason, he hoped she might actually be right about him. She’d stood up for him, completely spontaneously, against Zia. She made him… want to do right by her. She deserved no less, with her honesty, her integrity, her enduring hope – all things he’d sacrificed in uprising and exile. Well… except business integrity, he’d never dumped that.

And when he kissed her… she smelled like unsulphurous air and shampoo and all sorts of things that were luxuries on Kadara. Those pouting half-Japanese lips were addicting beyond all reason. It was far too easy to get drunk on her, and the fact that she seemed similarly affected by him was even more seductive. She made it difficult to think, even when she wasn’t around. He wanted her, and he wanted to be with her, as long as she would allow him.

He couldn’t reform to what he imagined her ideal man might be. He was in too deep, there was too much at stake for that. But he could help her accomplish her goals. It would make things better for him, certainly, but he knew how much she wanted an outpost here, knew a little of how hard she’d worked and fought to make the planet even a little more hospitable. She’d probably hate him once she found out who he really was. But even if she walked away and never returned… as she would if she was smart… he wanted to do this for her. A way of making up to her for the giant deception he would be unveiling. And there was always a chance she’d understand. That their fragile, young trust would survive and heal and grow stronger. That trust, the smile in her big brown eyes, was as addictive as her kisses.

He opened a channel on his omnitool. “Crux. I have a mission for you.”

* * *

Multiple footsteps. Sloane… and Harumi and her two teammates. He’d expected it, but it didn’t make it less difficult now. “You look like you’re waiting for someone,” he called to them – may as well make it a catchphrase now – and stepped into the light, steeling himself to feel nothing.

* * *

“Reyes?” she gasped, her brain racing, trying to understand how – why – who. She knew she sounded shocked, and maybe a little betrayed. Maybe she was. He glanced at her, but most of his attention was on Sloane, his face stony and unreadable. A far cry from the expressive man she’d come to know.

“I’ve come for the Charlatan, not some third-rate smuggler,” Sloane snarled.

“They’re one and the same,” she said, having just figured it out before Sloane spoke.

“Surprise,” he said.

“This whole time, you’ve been lying to me,” she accused him.

A flicker of proper emotion, but too fast to catch, crossed his face. “Not about everything. You know who I really am.” A slight, wistful smile.

“You said you wanted to ‘settle things’,” Sloane interrupted. “How?”

He jumped down from his ledge to speak to them on a level. “A duel. You and me. Right now. Winner takes Kadara Port.”

Harumi made a disgruntled face. “You want to avoid war by shooting each other?”

He shrugged. “Two people shooting each other is better than a lot of people shooting each other.”

Sloane had been considering, her gaze steady. “I’ll take those terms.”

Reyes smirked, just slightly. Harumi backed up as the two pirates began to circle, slowly. She looked from one to the other – the arrogant woman she hated, and the obnoxious man she loved. This wasn’t her fight.

She caught a gleam in the darkness behind Reyes – apparently Sloan didn’t see. SAM’s help with her vision?

“Sniper,” SAM said in her private channel. “His sights are set on Sloane.”

She should warn her, but- but-

A sniper round rang out, deafening in the narrow tunnel, and Sloan’s eyes bugged. She grunted and collapsed to the ground, still glaring at Reyes as he smirked triumphantly.

“Bang.” He gestured with his fingers as if firing a gun, then blew imaginary smoke from them. Sloane closed her eyes and sighed out her last breath.

The sniper clambered down from his vantage point in the deep darkness of the cave. Reyes nodded to him. “Get her out of here. Prepare the crew. Kadara Port is ours tonight.” The sniper nodded and set about it. Reyes began to head towards the exit, barely giving her a glance.

That annoyed her. To brush her aside like she wasn’t even there… Was it wishful thinking to hope that he _couldn’t_ look at her because he was feeling too much?

“Guess you got everything you wanted,” she said, trotting after him. She knew she sounded slightly bitter, and couldn’t help it. It was all too much. Sloane dead, assassinated, murdered even, Harumi a betrayer of her trust… And yet when the time was on her, she couldn’t speak. She hated Sloane too much, loved Reyes still too much to interfere with his scheme. It was dishonourable. She was supposed to be better than that. But this situation had been bound to arise eventually, and everything was better this way, wasn’t it? Ugh, morality and love didn’t mix well sometimes.

What had been done was done, and Reyes was still alive, and Sloane was not, and she had hope that things would work out. For Kadara, for… them. She had to hope.

“What I want is peace,” he said over his shoulder. “Sloane would have brought war to Heleus. We don’t have the population to survive that.”

Fair point. But… “Why didn’t you trust me?”

He hesitated, coming to a halt in the middle of the tunnel before turning to face her slowly; regret was in his eyes, but he met hers steadily. “I… liked the way you looked at me. I was afraid that would change.”

She could feel her eyes stinging and blinked angrily. “Stupid… Idiot… I don’t care that you’re the Charlatan! You’re still you, aren’t you? Like you said. But if I’d known, I could have made better decisions to this point. We could have worked together properly.” She shook her head violently. She shouldn’t give him another chance. He’d had plenty. But she was going to. “No, it doesn’t _change_ anything. I… I still believe in you. Whatever you’re doing… I trust you to do the right thing in the end. And I… still want you in my life. As close as you care to be.”

Shock and maybe gratitude washed over his face, then he lowered his head and closed his eyes. When he opened them, there was something daring there, something dangerous… and sexy. “You have bad taste in men.”

Then she was up against the cave wall, his weight pinning her against the stone, his mouth passionate on hers. Oh god, she was in heaven, even with her hardsuit blocking her from feeling more, and her arms were about him, trapping him there with her. Was his knee sliding between hers? He really knew how to get her motor running, didn’t he? They parted and she leaned to whisper into his ear: “The worst.” She felt him smile and nuzzle what was exposed of her neck, felt lips and breath and a hint of teeth, and moaned helplessly.

He _was_ bad. He’d lied to her, manipulated her, skated a fine line between helpful, loyal ally and total self-centred calculating asshole. He was also… warm, and uncertain, a lost man looking for hope, and he cared about her good opinion enough to fear losing it. And she had to stop glossing over it – a huge part of her attraction to him was sexual. He’d swept her off her feet, interrupting her casual flirting with Jaal like a bolt of lightning, seducing her with bold, confident physicality. She didn’t think he’d really tried to, despite all the playful flirting – it had just happened.

It shouldn’t count for as much as it did. It wasn’t a healthy stable basis for a relationship. And she was helpless against it, craving more. But under the lust for both of them, there was something more. She could feel it. There was a chance.

With one final gentle kiss to her scar, he leaned back to see her. “Meet you at Tartarus?”

“Yes,” she said, unwilling to let go yet. They needed to _talk_ about this and how it was going to work. At Tartarus.

* * *

He beat her there; she had gotten distracted by a pack of dinosaurs chasing the Nomad through a valley. “Thought you’d be in the throne room,” she said as she plunked herself down on the couch across from his. Would this be his throne room? He did seem to have commandeered it on a permanent basis, despite all the other running around he did. Sloane’s room had been tacky in a pirate-y way; Aria T’loak she was not. But then here was… “Tartarus is a little shabby for Kadara’s new leader, don’t you think?”

That got her less of a reaction than she’d hoped. “Come on, Harumi. You know I prefer to rule from the shadows.”

She smirked at him. “You are a shady bastard.”

That earned her the grin she was going for. “But a handsome one, right?” She pouted because it was true, and he grinned broader before returning to business. “The angara you met at Sloane’s party – Keema Dorhgun. She’s agreed to be my front. And with Sloane gone, there’s room for the Initiative on Kadara.”

She gave him a real smile, relieved and excited. “I’ll start rounding up volunteers for an outpost. Might take a while – you exiles have a reputation.”

He chuckled. “Not all of us are thieves and murderers. _I_ am, but some of the others are perfectly nice.”

“Perfectly,” she agreed sarcastically. Ugh, he _was_ a thief and a murderer, and she still believed in him. There was something seriously wrong with her.

He leaned forward, seriousness in his eyes. “Jokes aside, I want this outpost just as much as you do. It will have my full protection. That’s a promise.”

Promises always fell too easily from his lips, but this one he meant. And she was grateful. “Thanks, Reyes. I allied myself with the right man.” She hesitantly locked eyes with him. “And… just to be clear… whatever happens between you and me won’t affect the colony, right?”

“No. I’m not doing this _just_ to make you happy, though it was certainly a factor, and should our personal liaisons go belly-up, I won’t take it out on your people. Don’t worry.”

She nodded, relieved. “I didn’t think you would, but now it’s been said.”

“If we’re done with all the boring business talk, there is something I want to do.” She had to raise an eyebrow. Surely he was joking, he loved talking business. And this particular business, of expanding the Initiative, she loved too.

But he stood and took a step towards her, bringing up his omnitool briefly. “You’re up to something. Again.” She gave him a look askance.

She raised both eyebrows as the music in the private room faded from ‘background club beat’ to something with… piano? “I neglected you on our first date.” He bowed to her, extending a hand in a clear invitation to dance. “How about we fix that?”

“I didn’t know you had a romantic streak,” she said, putting her hand in his and letting him pull her to her feet. That he was confident in his sexuality, yes. That he would do something as cliché and lovey-dovey as take her dancing, no. Good thing she’d taken dance classes way back.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” he said, as she spun herself into his arms into a waltzing position. She could tell he was laying on the charm, turning up the seductive tones. He wasn’t wrong, either, and it should have bothered her. And she could tell what he was doing, too. He was trying to distract her from any second thoughts she might have been having about his revelations.

…Oh god, he was a good dancer, too. Even though she was still in full armour and there was this blasted hardsuit between them, his skill was clear, guiding her capably with a hand on her lower back and perfect footwork. She was _so_ very lucky she’d taken dance classes. She was enjoying this very much.

His face and tone were back to wistful. “Since leaving the Nexus, my survival has depended on secrets. I don’t want any more of those between us, Harumi.”

She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder as they slowly swayed in a circle. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Reyes.” She wasn’t going to ‘fix him’, that would just lead to everyone being unhappy. “You will have secrets. That’s who you are. Just don’t lie to me about the big stuff.”

And even then… she supposed she could forgive him if it turned out for the best. She wasn’t one for schemes, not at all. Battle tactics, maybe, if she really had to, plans of action, yes, but not schemes. She’d leave that up to him. It was going to take a lot of trust.

She lifted her head as he lowered his to look into her eyes. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He was very close to her and she could sense imminent kisses. Her heart fluttered excitedly.

“For accepting me.”

She smiled a little sheepishly, he leaned in, and they continued to sway slowly back and forth as they kissed.

* * *

“Pathfinder, may we discuss your romantic attachment?”

She made a perplexed face at the hologram. “Uhhh… All right, but I hope you already know where babies come from.”

SAM did not follow her light tone. “My experience of such attachments was a long-established relationship. Cherished, familiar, but tragic.”

“Mom and Dad,” she murmured.

“I have never known the beginning of an attachment. Perspective on your partner would place it in context.”

“Oh gee. Um… Well…” She could feel herself blushing, and found herself mumbling. “I really care about him, and I… hope he feels the same.”

“All life strives for connection,” SAM mused. “I begin to understand better. Thank you.”

So he wasn’t going to comment on how she really, really wanted to get in Reyes’ pants as well, even though her body chemistry must light up like the 5th of November when he was in close physical proximity. Thank god.

But, speaking seriously, as SAM was, that wasn’t the end of her attraction to Reyes, either. She really wasn’t sure exactly what it was yet. She should probably visit him more and figure it out.

* * *

She walked into Kralla’s Song for a drink after all the errands she’d run, found a dark-haired Spaniard waiting for her. Her heart jumped a little, but she had to play it cool. “Should I say it?” she asked, as she stepped up to the bar beside him.

“What, ‘you look like you’re waiting for someone?’ That’s my line, isn’t it?”

“I can’t use it about you?” She smirked at him, got her drink from Umi. “How’re you?”

“Business is fine, the weather’s fine, the water’s improved. You?”

She grinned excitedly. “Just got back from Elaaden. Oh my god, it might not look like much at first, but it’s amazing.”

“Tell me about it?” He made a gesture with his head towards a quieter corner of the bar.

“Absolutely.” She’d wanted to hear him talk… but she really wanted to tell him about all the amazing things she’d seen. There was time for both, right? …Hopefully? She did tend to go on and on when she was excited…

* * *

Her eyes sparkled as she talked, showing him pictures of a Remnant ship larger than he could imagine, or wanted to, pictures of some massive distant snake-ish Remnant bot rising from the never-ending dunes. His attention wasn’t really on the pictures, or even her stories. She probably believed she had the best job in the universe, and from the pleasure she got from it, it was probably true. She was happy, doing what she did. He wondered if he really fit in to her life.

“And the krogan, oh my god, I love them. I never really got the chance to work with them before, in the Milky Way, they were either grumpy scary mercenaries, or grumpy scary mercenaries shooting at me. Drack’s been a lot of fun to have on the team, but this colony, the people in it… they’re so much more laid back than any of the krogan in the Milky Way. Like… oh my god, did you know they have a LARP night? Isn’t that the most amazing thing you ever heard?”

He didn’t fit, not at all. She was insanely brave, all heart and compassion, an idealist to the core, always looking to the next horizon. She was already shaking the cluster to its foundations. He was small-time in comparison, mean, a man of low morals and small dreams; unworthy, his heart told him. His idealism wasn’t dead, but buried under a thick shell of cynicism and worldliness. He adored her more and more the more time they spent together, but she was so far above him it seemed inevitable she would leave someday. His sex appeal couldn’t keep her around forever.

He’d enjoy it while it lasted, and smile at the light in her eyes.

“Sorry, I know I’m hogging the conversation,” she said at last, completely contrite for no reason.

He laughed. “I can hardly interrupt such passion. It’s… inspiring! I love it. Is your brother the same way?” Sure, Reyes, smooth, bringing up her brother.

“Haruto? Yeah, pretty much. Not that he’s got the chance.” She grimaced. “He’s going to be so jealous of all the things I’ve seen without him. I’m sure he’s going to push himself hard after he recovers. Hope he doesn’t overdo it and injure himself again.” She made an exasperated sigh.

“Which one of you is older?”

“Me, by one minute. Never let him forget it. It’s my job as big sister.” She gave him a cheesy grin. “He’ll probably still want to kick your ass on principle.”

He chuckled. “I look forward to meeting him. He’s certainly welcome to try.”

She nodded. “You boys can figure things out between you. I’m sure neither of you will actually be able to hurt each other. It’ll be a while, though – he’s only just coming out of his coma, Dr. Carlyle tells me. He still needs time to recover his strength and bearings.”

He nodded. “Best of luck to him.” He hesitated, trying to figure out how to segue into the more serious topic that he’d been thinking about.

She tilted her head. “What’s up?”

She was so perceptive. “Forgive me if this seems sudden, but… where would you like our relationship to go? You speak of introducing me to your brother, which sounds pretty serious…” Considering her father wasn’t around. Though the krogan on her team could probably stand in.

She blinked those big brown eyes at him in confusion. “I mean, I might make terrible decisions about men, but I wasn’t planning to keep this casual forever. I really like you, but… Didn’t want to rush it, like you said before. I don’t know – you mean, like, where do I see this in five years?” She laughed incredulously. “I have no idea what the _cluster_ is going to look like in a year, let alone five, let alone us.”

“Fair enough. A different question, then. Assuming that things work out with your job… assuming that I don’t fuck up your life… what do you want?”

“What do _I_ want?”

She was afraid to tell him, so he was going to have to be blunt. This really was sudden, wasn’t it? They hadn’t even slept together yet. Maybe he should let it wait. But he’d already started talking. “Are you the sort to prefer matrimonial bonds? Do you want children? White picket fence? Or you just want a handsome bed-warmer/dance partner?”

She laughed, then squinted at him. “I didn’t come to _Andromeda_ for a _picket fence_. And I’m pretty sure you didn’t, either. But you’re not proposing to me before our one-month anniversary, are you?”

He chuckled. “No. But I’m serious enough I’d like to know if that’s what you’re expecting – or if you’d rather not have anything to do with it.”

She thought for a while. “I guess I’d like to get married. And kids, eventually. One or two, not a big crowd. We’ll have a lot of things to work out before that happens, but I guess that’s what you’re getting at – if we start planning for things now, even just preparing mentally, it will be… easier, later?”

He nodded. “Exactly. I still feel like I have to prove myself to you.”

“Helping me get the Initiative onto Kadara wasn’t enough?”

“But that was business.”

“All right.”

He reached out to take her hand, kissed it across the table. “I want to be a man worthy of you.”

She shook her head, though she’d blushed at the kiss. “You already are. Reyes, don’t try to change yourself. I’ve had friends end up in bad, bad mental places trying to perfect themselves to some imaginary ideal that ended up being untrue. It’s all right.”

He smiled. “Trust me.”

“Guess I’ve got no choice,” she grumbled, but smiled at him. “Okay.”

“And no, I’m not in a rush to propose. It will happen, if it happens, when the time is right. Trust me on that, too.”

“I’ll try not to get impatient,” she said sweetly. “Well… um… thanks for bringing it up. It’s not easy to talk about, this early on.”

“With so much uncertainty about us,” he agreed. “I’ll take care of your heart if you take care of mine.”

“Deal.”

He left her with the drink bill again when they parted. He had to be a little bit of an ass every now and then.

* * *

_> Reyes,_   
_ >You’re not getting away with that._   
_ >Harumi_

_> Dear Harumi,_   
_ >You love it._   
_ >Reyes_

_> Jerk._   
_ >Harumi_

_> You’re an angel._   
_ >Reyes_

_> (sigh) At least you’re not promising to make it up to me later._   
_ >Harumi_

_> I’ll make it up to you later, I promise._   
_ >Reyes_

_> omg I hate you._   
_ >Harumi_

_> What will I ever do without you?_   
_ >Reyes_

_> Sleeping now. Jerk._   
_ >Harumi_

_> Sleep well, darling._   
_ >Reyes_

* * *

_> Hey Reyes, I’m taking some time off after our recent adventures here on the Tempest. It’s been rough. Mind if I hang out on Kadara with you for a few days?_   
_> Harumi_

_> Dear Harumi,_   
_> Please, come tell me all about it. Business has picked up following some very interesting news items but I always have time for you._   
_> Will a few days be enough? Would you like a week?_   
_> Reyes_

_> I’d love a week but you know how it is, Heleus needs SAM and me every other minute. Three days was all I could wrangle out of Tann. I’ll meet you at Kralla’s Song tomorrow. I don’t really feel like suiting up and going down to Tartarus if that’s okay._   
_> Harumi_

* * *

He walked into Kralla’s Song – it was 100% okay that she didn’t want to armour up just to go find him – and spotted her in the corner, slumped over a single glass of beer. Her body language was both tense and tired. Definitely in need of some R&R, and hopefully he could provide. He swooped into the chair across from her. “Is this seat taken?”

She roused at his arrival and gave him a wan smile. “Hi. What’s up?”

He wanted to talk about the wild stories surrounding her, but based on her messages… she would do that in her own time. “Trade is up, muggings are down, and the most beautiful Pathfinder came back to Kadara… so things are excellent on my end.” He tilted his head inquisitively. “Did you want to talk about it, or shall we simply get drunk and go make out at my place?”

“You have a place?” she asked, teasing, and stalling to decide. “That’s not Tartarus?”

“It’s not very big, and there are many like it, but that one is mine,” he answered. “We can get food on the way if you’d like something to eat.”

“Sounds great,” she said, and drained her drink.

He took her hand as they walked together, slowly through the grimy streets. They stopped briefly at a food vendor’s stall for take-out, then made their way downwards to a tiny alley mostly composed of shipping containers. The larger ones, mind, the ones you could fit a tank inside. Practically luxury in this den of pirates. One of them, as he’d said, was his.

They ate, made meaningless small-talk. She was still listless, bottling up her tension, and while he could sense it wasn’t quite the time to lay on the charm, she wasn’t smiling much at his more innocent jokes, either. So when they’d eaten and tossed the containers in the auto-recycler, he led her over to the couch that doubled as his bed and sat, tugging her down to sit on his lap, her head on his shoulder. “Okay. Tell me about it?” Talking it through would help, wouldn’t it?

She sighed and snuggled closer, getting comfortable. Some of the tension was gone – hot food always helped – but there was plenty left. “There’s been a lot. Starting with… Okay, so we found a transponder that gave us the Archon’s ship’s location… I forget where we found it. Here? Elaaden? I forget. I put off using it for a while, at least until Elaaden’s colony was stable. Anyway, we eventually did use it, and off we went… to find he’d discovered and captured the salarian ark.” He could feel the tension returning and stroked her back, to no avail. She’d just have to tell her story to let it out. “Should have gone looking earlier… We managed to find the salarian Pathfinder, but they’d disabled their SAM to protect him so my SAM went to help her out too, had to work twice as hard as usual. We started on a plan to disconnect the ark from the kett ship, and me and my team went to go find the map to Meridian, which meant finding the Archon’s private chamber…”

She took a deep breath and her arms tightened around him. “On the way there… we… blundered into a trap. Some kind of force-field that held us frozen in place. I could move my face, enough to sass the Archon when he showed up, but I couldn’t move my head, my fingers… couldn’t use my biotics… He… came to me, looked at me like I was some kind of… specimen, then jabbed a needle in my neck to take samples…” She was shaking now, and felt like she was about to crawl out of his lap and run. A hand reached up to the back of her neck, and he followed it with his own, felt a little divot in the skin. He swallowed the furious surge of anger and held her tighter.

“Anyway… then he left… saying something about he’d find out what made me special, something something exaltation… you know, the usual… And we were stuck. Completely. Also, completely alone. So… SAM had an idea. I… I don’t know if I should tell you…”

“Why not?” Surely there wasn’t anything she could do that would shock him. He was the bad boy in their relationship.

“We… we really couldn’t see any way out of the trap, I couldn’t use my biotics, Cora couldn’t use hers… but the force-field only reacted to living tissue, SAM said. So…” An agonizing pause. “…I let him kill me.”

Okay. That did shock him. “I- That- How?”

She huddled away from him, not trusting him to not freak out on her, apparently. “I trust him implicitly. He brought me back. I knew he would.”

“I know. I… dare I ask… Did it hurt?”

“A little. Basically a massive heart attack. SAM made it hurt less, I think. Pain is only there to tell the body not to do something, but when it’s the only available option…”

“Incredible… But how?”

“SAMs and Pathfinders are very intimately connected. And I’m even more connected than the others. If it was necessary, he could take control of my entire body. And I don’t want to think about what might happen if I go beyond QEC range.”

That was a lot to process. “I’m guessing this isn’t common knowledge.”

“No.” She didn’t want to meet his eyes. “Reyes…”

He could feel her pulling back, afraid she’d said too much. “I’m here, Harumi. I figured your superhero powers came from somewhere. I won’t tell.” He squeezed reassuringly. “It doesn’t change anything. Right?” He mirrored her words to him, back when she’d found out who he was. If he rejected her just because she had some weird symbiotic relationship with a computer… well, firstly, he’d be a massive hypocrite – she’d accepted him even though he was a scheming, devious, lying, thieving, murdering smuggler – and secondly, he… cared too much about her to just let her go without trying.

He’d come to terms with it later. Right now, she just needed him to listen and hold her.

“Right.” She exhaled shakily. “Liam said he was going to go to HR for emotional abuse, and he’s got a point.”

“Hm?”

“Oh… did I never tell you? When I first came to Heleus… I already died, technically. SAM brought me back that time, too. My dad didn’t make it, though.”

“I’m sorry. Also, that’s incredible… and I think I agree with Liam.”

“I’ll try to stop doing it. Really.”

Well, she wasn’t trying to talk him out of being a criminal, so he wouldn’t try to talk her out of dangling over the abyss. “Please, go on.”

“Okay, so, anyway… he brought me back, and I shut down the field. And _then_ …” She shuddered again. “We got to listen to recordings of the Archon… torturing salarians, and the Moshae.” Suddenly she was sitting upright, eyes blazing as she stared into the distance. The mood whiplash was enough to make him flinch. “When I catch that sonovabitch, I’m going to rip his fuckin’ fancy horns off his head and shove ’em up his ass until they come out his ugly face again. Then I’m going to eviscerate him with my asari knife, and then I’m going to shoot him in the face with my sniper! If there’s anything left of his head, I’ll beat it in with the other end of my sniper! Then maybe a warp field just for good measure.”

He’d never seen her angry before, let alone this angry. “Always knew he needed killing, but he must be monstrous indeed.” She didn’t _like_ killing. What had she heard on those recordings?

“Bastard deserves every bit of it,” she growled, teeth bared. “What he did… torturing those people…” Suddenly the fight was gone back out of her and she slumped against him, burying her face in his neck, shaking again. “Those poor salarians… they went into cryo dreaming of a new home and woke up in the worst of horror vids. I can’t imagine…”

He patted her back as he felt her tears on his neck. “Nor can I.” Words failed him again. He wanted to tell her something comforting, but what was there? Even third-hand, the knowledge was sickening.

She sniffled. “Well, we went to his private sanctum and scanned the Remnant map, he showed up in hologram, told me that SAM was all that made me special and he wasn’t actually interested in me anymore, the salarians fired off an EMP that disabled his guns, and we hightailed it out of there. We left behind some krogan prisoners in order to get Pathfinder Raeka out… Drack wasn’t happy…”

“I imagine not.”

“So… that was the first mission. Made it back to the Nexus, Nexus command decided not to do anything with the info… but the other Pathfinders decided we shouldn’t give a fuck about silly things like ‘rules’ and ‘adults saying no’.”

He smiled. “Good for you.”

“So with their help… we went to go find Meridian.”

“Meridian?”

“The Remnant place the Archon’s obsessing over. The place the map led to.”

“You found it, I presume.”

“Yes.” For the first time since they’d sat down, a tiny smile ghosted over her face, then grew stronger. “It’s beautiful.”

“Tell me.”

“It was dark at first, and somehow it was raining, even though we could see the stars all around. We wandered around for a bit… Not going to lie, it was super satisfying activating doors and gravity wells and shit while the Archon’s been beating his bonehead against it for decades without getting anywhere. We had to activate two towers before we could get to the main control hub, so first we learned that someone created the angara from scratch to reside in this cluster, which raises all kinds of questions, mostly ‘why?’ And then we found a crap-ton of working Remnant ships all mothballed away. Both places were kind of eerie… but after we activated the consoles, oh my god… The whole station began lighting up. Not just the teal-green electronic-looking threads that seem to be all over all Remnant structures, but holograms everywhere, panels, models, beams, sparkling, glittering…”

God, he loved when she started talking about the amazing things she’d seen. She just lit right up, like the city she was describing, like she couldn’t help it. This was one of the biggest reasons he loved her.

“…Towers and spires covered in light, glowing chasms between the stars… Data screens like sculptures of light, even the path beneath my feet covered in arcane enchanted streams… There was a lot of writing, too, SAM was having a field day putting together a better understanding of the Remnant language. We can read a lot more of it now. But just imagine… Wait, I might be able to show you.”

She twisted against him, pulling her arms free to tap excitedly on her omnitool, bringing up a video of a stark, jagged city against a field of stars, but the city was all lit up like Christmas. If Christmas had a universally teal-green theme. “It is quite beautiful,” he agreed. There were explosions in the video. “What’s going on here?”

“Oh, right, this was from when we activated the central hub, the kett ships started attacking… so I managed to turn all the defences on. Their biggest ship crashed! SAM says it wasn’t the Archon’s ship, but it was still a damn big ship. Feeling good about blowing it up.”

“As you should.”

“Anyway, fighting the kett there was kind of a huge pain. They even brought a fiend. Assholes.” She shook her head, then seemed to remember something. “Oh, so anyway, that wasn’t Meridian after all. Meridian… is… a bigger thing that this installation is just part of. The other Pathfinders are working on tracking real-Meridian’s probably path through the Scourge, that’s the real reason why I have time off right now. Oh, and the Scourge is apparently a weapon to fight whoever left the Remnant behind.” She grimaced and didn’t seem to know what to do next, story over.

He had a vague idea, and gathered her back into his arms. “You’re amazing.” And that explained why trade was up, all the crazy rumours. Good to hear direct from the source.

“No I’m not… God, I almost fell off Khi Tasira like five times…”

It was just the fallout from her emotion talking. “You _are_ amazing.”

She looked up at him shyly. “Sometimes?”

“All the time.” He kissed the top of her head. “Feel any better?”

“Yes, much.” Apparently satisfied that he wasn’t going to react adversely, she relaxed properly against him finally. “Thanks for listening.”

“I love to listen to you. Thank you for telling me.” _Thank you for trusting me_ , he wanted to say. Useless naivety, some might say. He might have said before he met her. Incredibly precious in this new world, he’d say now. He wondered how he could repay such trust. “You’re welcome to stay with me as long as you need.”

“Thanks, Reyes.”

“Only one question – won’t the Initiative need the Tempest?” _Will they take you from me before you’re ready?_

“I need to stay in range of SAM, so the Initiative will have to do without the Tempest while I’m on vacation. I could take my vacation on the Nexus, where the Hyperion is, where SAM Node is, but that’s a little boring, and you’re not there. So I’m abusing my power a little.”

“And I doubt I’d be welcome any time soon. Hmm. Well, I will give you my full attention while you’re here. Whatever you need, ask. Please. I mean it.” If he didn’t make that very clear, he wondered if she’d take him up on it. She was very independent, and maybe she was used to leaning on her team, but not so used to leaning on him. He could be reliable too. He’d prove it.

“You’re the best.” She was so relaxed now, the fangs of her emotion pulled. Perhaps she could recover now.

“Is there anything you’d like right now? Alcohol, music, your name in the stars?”

She chuckled a little at that. But she tilted her head up towards him. “Kiss?”

How could he refuse her? His lips met hers and she sighed with yearning as it deepened and deepened.

His couch-bed wasn’t suitable for making love to the woman of his dreams, even when you popped the bed part out of the seat. But maybe she didn’t care? He wished he’d known about her coming over beforehand – he’d have freshened the sheets. Maybe even tidied up the rest of the place.

She didn’t seem to care, willing and pliant under his touch, greedy for his kisses, as eager to run her hands along his skin as he was to touch hers. His hands were sliding under her top, and she was working open the zippers on his jumpsuit; their legs were intertwined and their hearts were racing already.

“I love that you wear pink,” he said as he finally slid her pink top off, dropping a kiss between her breasts.

She snorted. “Why?”

“It’s cute. You’re badass _and_ girly.”

“You missed the phase when I was fabbing my armour purple camo. Dad had a fit.”

He laughed. Her current armour was desert brown and sky blue. “I would loved to have seen that.”

“Nah, it was hideous.” She pulled him close and he became lost in her.

* * *

She was gorgeous, he reflected as he made tea and brought two cups back to the bed. There was a contemplative look in those big brown eyes now. “What are you thinking about?” It didn’t look to be anything upsetting. Maybe she was thinking about him. He could dream.

She smiled at him. “Just thinking I’m too young for this shit. All this responsibility… Cora said she’d accepted me being Pathfinder, that her being Pathfinder would have been terrible… but seriously, I’m only twenty-two, and I’m expected to save Heleus?” She sat up a bit to drink her tea. “No pressure or anything… Not that I’m a rookie, but… ugh…”

“Wait… you’re only twenty-two?” He’d thought she was older than him. By several years.

“Yeah…?” She pouted at him. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-three. And I’ve been a year out of cryo already. What year were you born?”

“2165.”

“Me too.”

She gave him a shocked look, then burst into giggles. “You’re kidding. That’s ridiculous.”

“Swear it on my heart! 2165. July 10.”

“March 7. I always thought you were, like, years older!”

“I thought you were older.”

“Oh, this is hilarious. But you can commiserate, then! You’ve got a lot of responsibility, too!”

He chuckled. “I certainly can. But I’m up for the challenge… and I think you are, too.”

“Yeah, most days. And the others… I have you!”

He leaned over and kissed her. “Always, my love.”

She reached up to touch his face. “That’s why I need you. I realize that now. You make such a fuss over the fact that I’m some kind of hero and you’re some kind of villain, but really… I’m always out there, wandering, getting in trouble, dancing on the wind… but I always know where you are. Or at least how to find you. I need you to return to.”

“Is that why you didn’t go for your squadmate who you tell me is always going without his shirt.”

She giggled. “Liam, yes, that’s one reason. Sure, he’s got a great body. But he’s even flakier than me. I mean, if you want to join my crew, you’re very welcome. But it’s really nice to have someone to… come back to. Quiet harbour for my soul, away from it all.”

“Then I will be that person for you.” She was his light and his hope, and he was her rock and her faith.

“Thanks, Reyes. Luv oo.”

He kissed her soundly. “Love you too.”

* * *

He needed to run a job the next day, and invited her along. Might be good to get her out and about, to do something together, which didn’t necessarily involve shooting. And yes, there were illicit goods involved, but it was the fun, harmless kind – fauna samples for the scientists down at Ditaeon. They always paid well for a chance to observe the changes that were continuing to take place since Harumi activated that Remnant stuff. Something about the organisms that had adapted to the sulphurous water having to adapt back to unsulphurous water, and how strangely quickly it was going, and how some were doing better than others. All beyond him, certainly. But according to some pencil-pusher on the Nexus, there were supposed to be more rules around the acquisition of said samples. Rules that neither the scientists nor he gave a damn about, as long as the samples were uncontaminated and tagged properly.

He made the mistake of calling her crazy halfway there. “I knew you were delightfully reckless and enjoy seeking out danger, but I didn’t think you were actually insane.”

She cackled, flipped him the bird with both hands, and launched herself backwards off the nearest cliff, yelling “Peace out!”

He sighed as he watched her land with her jetpack. He didn’t have a jetpack. And she had the samples.

She pouted when he picked her up in his shuttle a few minutes later, until they both dissolved into giggles.

* * *

He waited for her to emerge from the structure, along with everyone else who’d come together to fight for their future. Very strange, to be part of this larger group effort. Especially since no one really knew who he was; even the Collective only followed him here because the Charlatan had ordered them into battle to aid the Pathfinder, and once there, everyone knew Reyes Vidal, didn’t they?

But to stand on solid, lush ground, to breath the cleanest air he’d tasted since leaving Earth… He didn’t know how to categorize the feelings he was having. Kadara was home now, but to know there was a planet like this out there…

A bizarre inverted planet around some kind of miniature sun. With even more Remnant around than any other planet in the cluster. No, he was fine on Kadara.

There she was, supporting her twin brother – he’d never seen Haruto Ryder before, but they looked so similar the man could be no one else. Both the twins looked exhausted to the breaking point, and the Tempest’s doctor came to take Haruto from Harumi before she fell over. But under the exhaustion she had a glow about her – she’d seen wonders, undoubtedly, and defeated her enemy, saved her brother. She met the leaders of the Initiative-Angara alliance head-on, her team at her back.

“The word’s out,” Dr. Anwar said in her absolutely charming accent. “Everyone’s elated, but… the Nexus wants to know what’s next. What do I tell them?”

Ryder paused to think for a long moment. “Tell them…” And her beautiful face broke into a weary, heart-warming smile. “Tell them we’re home.”

Dr. Anwar nodded, and turned to hurry back to the Tempest, brushing past him. The other leaders nodded, various expressions of gladness on their faces, but he lingered, basking in the sight of her face.

She was staring at him now, her heart in her eyes. He felt his mouth twist a few times soundlessly. He had nothing to say. He only wanted to adore. His beautiful Pathfinder, she’d won, she’d lived, she’d saved herself and them all. She was too good for him, whatever she might say. But now was not the time to approach her.

He winked at her, caught her giddy smile, and turned away, back to his ship. There’d be time enough for words later.

* * *

Later was longer than he’d expected. She was kept in the crashed Hyperion’s medical wing for two weeks – probably recovered after a week, but held back to ensure whatever she’d experienced wasn’t going to affect her too much in the long term.

He waited. He didn’t mind. Kadara Port could take care of itself. He could run some business from here. And her team, at least, knew his relationship with her, and didn’t chase him out for being a filthy Exile. Nexus leadership looked a bit more askance at him, but he’d helped quite a bit in the battle, so they grudgingly let him stay, leaving a faint trail of Kadara sulphur wherever he lingered. Any SAM would have no trouble tracing his passage long after he’d departed. He could have washed his clothes, but then he’d smell funny when he got back to Kadara.

Celebrations – and the beginning of building a new city – were still underway, and in fact gained new momentum once she was officially allowed to get up and out. Her team all rushed to greet her, and he hung back, unobtrusive, waiting for her to notice him.

Eventually she did, stepping through the dispersing crowd and to his side. “Hey. You’re still here?”

He chuckled. “I’m still here. Want to slip away? I found a great storage room. Sturdy crates. Secluded. No interruptions.”

She took a step back, crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow. “A storage room. You spoil me.”

He grinned. “It’ll be like our first date… but better.” From the slight blush on her face, she hadn’t forgotten how steamy that urgent, unplanned first kiss in a storage room had been. “But you’ll be heading out soon, no?”

“Still a lot to do,” she said with a cheerfully exasperated sigh. “Meridian’s just one step towards making Heleus our home.”

“Yeah, but a damn big one. You deserve to celebrate. …And I… deserve another drink.”

“Me too,” she agreed. “Where are they at?”

He took her hand as they headed off. “Where will you be off to next? Do you even know?”

“Not a clue just yet,” she said. “Would like to take some time and just look at Meridian for a bit… I tried to get some walks in, while I was recovering… in between all the paperwork.” She wrinkled her nose at the memory of paperwork. It was adorable.

“I missed you, then,” he said, mildly disappointed he hadn’t found her in time for those. “I thought today was your big debut out of hospital-jail?”

She looked at him suddenly. “Wait, you didn’t just come back for me getting out of medical? I thought you’d be on Kadara this whole time!”

He shrugged. “I can do business from here. Vetra will speak well enough of me they haven’t kicked me out yet.”

“Oh, I feel bad now. I would have definitely contacted you if I’d known.”

“Don’t feel bad.” He squeezed her hand, handed her a drink with the other. “You focused on recovering, and that’s much more important. To me as well as to you.”

“Okay,” she said, reluctantly. “Well… we should definitely slip off somewhere. At some point. Soon. But not a storage room.” She glared slightly. “I can do better than that.”

“Please tell me we’re not doing it in SAM Node.”

She snorted. “No. Not that it makes a difference to SAM. And we’re not doing it in my- the Pathfinder quarters. Haruto’s still on recovery in there.”

“I don’t get to meet him?”

“Be glad,” she said, smirking. “I’ll think of a place. Until then, behave.”

“As my lady wishes.” He bowed. “I think your fellow Pathfinders wish to monopolize your attention, anyway. I’ll leave you to it.”

“I’ll text you,” she said, miming an old-fashioned phone call – what a mix of metaphors – and went to speak with Pathfinder Raeka.

* * *

In the end, she smuggled him onto the Tempest and into the opulent quarters that she always complained about. He could see why she thought it was unfair she got more space than everyone else on the ship combined, but it was tradition, wasn’t it? The ship’s captain had perks.

Her perks included an actual bed with an actual mattress and actual pillows and an actual down duvet. All sparkling white, all incredibly soft. Soft like her lips, like her breasts, her heart.

There was also the matter of the giant transparent wall that wrapped around the entire front of the room. One couldn’t call that a window. “You’re sure no one can see in?”

She grimaced. “I know. But I can change the opacity down to zero, so… fingers crossed?”

“The window is entirely one-way, even when at full transparency,” SAM put in helpfully. “You have complete privacy from the outside world.”

She locked the door, keyed the window opacity. “SAM, take a nap?”

“Yes, Pathfinder.” The hologram on the desk across the room winked out.

“He’s not really gone,” Reyes said.

“No, but he’s not going to interrupt unless the kett attack or something,” Harumi said. “Look, I have standards, okay? On Kadara, I’ll do it in a closet. On Initiative turf, trying to celebrate something, I want a bed. Total nudity. A little romance. I know you’re more than capable of the latter two.” The smirk she gave him was a clear challenge.

A challenge he eagerly accepted, swooping in to claim her lips, to press her body close to his, to revel in her throaty moans.

Making love in a bed that luxurious was an occasion he’d never had even before he left the Milky Way. Making love to a woman this incredible was an occasion he’d never dreamed he’d have in any galaxy. He twined his fingers in electric blue hair and kissed his way across warm copper coloured skin. Heleus wasn’t home. Kadara wasn’t home. _She_ was home.

“You’re home,” he whispered to her, after they’d come together. He lay beside her, holding her, stroking her hair, and she snuggled into his chest. Her shampoo smelled delightful.

“Mm,” she murmured. “I am.”

“No, I mean you’re my home,” he corrected her.

“Home is where the heart is,” she said lightly. “Guess you’re my home, too. Have been ever since you let me unload on you after the whole Khi Tasira thing. You have no idea how my heart jumped to hear you over the comm, back in the big battle.”

“I can’t come help save my girlfriend?” he teased her. “Of course I’d be there. It was good to hear you too, after I heard the Hyperion was captured – and knowing what SAM is to your well-being.” He squeezed comfortingly. “You going to let me stay on your ship, then? Take your home with you?

He felt her giggle. “Sounds like you want me to keep you as my pet. Like Squeaky.”

“Squeaky?”

She waved one hand vaguely in the direction of the office part of the room. “Somehow, sometime, a hamster got on the Tempest. Fat little guy, he got into the breakfast cereal before we managed to catch him. Kept him because he was cute.”

“Sounds exactly like me. Except for the fat. Unless you’re trying to say something about me. You wouldn’t be that cruel, would you?”

She giggled some more. “I’d love for you to stay. We could work something out. But your group needs you, too. Well, I guess I need you with your group. Don’t need them going nuts without your steady-if-distant hand at the helm.”

He sighed. “You’re correct, as usual. I suppose I’ll have to get out of this bed at some point. Now that you brought me here, I don’t want to leave. This is why we should have done it in a storage room.”

“Get a proper bed for your dive on Kadara. I’ll visit even more often.”

“Done.” He made no move to get up. Nor did she.

They dozed, gently, and made love a second time before the rest of the crew showed up and a query for Harumi’s whereabouts on the intercomm sent her into an adorable state of fluster. Then he had to leave, while Harumi had to endure the teasing of her team. The krogan looked fiercely at him, and he retreated perhaps a little more hastily than he otherwise might.

He set course for Govorkam with more hope in his heart than he’d ever thought possible since waking up. The kett could be defeated. The cluster could be made habitable. The woman of his dreams needed him, wanted him, loved him with her pure hopeful heart despite everything he was. Yes, there was still incredible danger around them, complications, mysteries, problems that only a Pathfinder and her SAM could solve. But now he believed, like she did, that they could accomplish anything.


End file.
